EUStrengthening capacity of local governments and non-governmental organizations in Montenegro for projects writing and managing grants from the EU funds, is a project designed by EXPEDITIO in cooperation with Municipality of Kotor. In December 2006, project is approved by PHILIA - Association of Multuetnic Cities of Southeast Europe.

Over recent years in Montenegro it has become possible to obtain financial resources from the EU funds by applying to tenders. Unfortunately, this possibility has not been used in an efficient way because it has been proved by practice that there is a lack of sufficiently developed capacity, primarily of knowledge and abilities of people, for writing and managing projects in accordance with the strict EU procedures. The main reason for such situation is the fact that obtaining funds for projects represents a new thing in an ex-socialist country where until recently financing was limited to funds allocated from the state budget, in a strictly centralized system.

Today, each democratic society is expected to have widely developed level of active citizens, from those employed in state sector, business, institutions, non-governmental organizations to those who act individually but possess knowledge and skills needed for writing and managing projects, and conducting adequate evaluation and reporting to the donors in the course of the project.

In the previous period it has become evident that non-governmental sector in Montenegro, as a young and vital part of the society, is the one that has acquired, in the fastest way, new knowledge referring to project-oriented thinking and acting and realized the importance of those, often substantial funds, for addressing numerous problems in the community. Despite the vitality of non-governmental sectors, general power, primarily of state institutions in Montenegro, to draw resources from EU funds has proved to be at a quite low level, and the reason for this is primarily lack of information and knowledge of procedures and techniques for writing and managing projects and grants.

Since decentralization is one of the main principles of a modern society, it is the level of local community that has to express readiness and ability for accessing funds which are aimed at considerably improving budgets of the municipalities, providing in that way conditions for better viewing and addressing problems at local level, which would finally result in improving quality of life of citizens.

Montenegro has expressed a strong determination for accessing EU and the need for teams of people capable of managing resources from EU funds is sure to increase in the future. It will be especially important to empower local governments in this sense because the majority of programmes are intended for them.

In short, main problems that will be solved by such a project are: • Insufficently developed local (human) capacities for managing EU funds in Montenegro • Lack of information at all levels about possibilities of obtaining financial resources from the EU funds as well as information about European practices

AIMS OF THE PROJECT: 1. Increasing capacity of local governments in Boka Kotorska for writing and managing EU projects, and raising the level of information about possibilities for applying for EU funds 2. Strengthening partnerships between municipalities in Boka Kotorska and non-governmental organizations, and buiding trust between these sectors through their cooperation

PARTNERS: The main partner in the project is the Municipality of Kotor. The municipality will be in charge of forming a working group whose memebrs will participate in the project writing training and after the training they will have a task to provide regular information about possibilities for obtaining grants and to use these grants for the realization of their future projects.

The project anticipates cooperation with the College of Management from Kotor, which we recognize as a source of young professionals in the field of management, who might be interested in engaging in the project and acquiring new, more specific knowledge which they can later apply in practice.

Besides the Municipality of Kotor, the project is intended for all municipalities and non-governmental organizations in Montenegro which are members of the PHILIA network and which will be invited to send their representatives to the training with the aim of obtaining knowledge which they can later apply and develop in their local communities, and establish partnerships and useful contacts with other municipalities

EXPEDITIO is a non-governmental organization whose mission is to encourage sustainable spatial development in Montenegro and SEE region through activity in the fields of sustainable architecture, cultural heritage, urban planning and through projects that encourage overall development of the civil society. Expeditio was established in 1997.

Publication Traditional wooden windows in Boka Kotorska and their restoration has resulted from the project Traditional materials and building techniques in Boka Kotorska – Improving knowledge and ski...

Publication KoTo(R) o KOTORU has resulted from the process of creation of the theatre play of the same name, carried out by the community theatre “Theatre about Kotor”, in which the citizens of Kotor ...

"Manual on protection, planning and management of heritage" summarises the experiences and knowledge gained during the project “Heritage – Driver of Development”. It aims at furthering the heritage is...

Vrmac hill is a peninsula that separates the Bays of Kotor and Tivat, and whose territory is administratively governed by both the Municipalities of Tivat and Kotor. Part of Vrmac belonging to the Mun...

Vrmac hill is a peninsula that separates the Bays of Kotor and Tivat, and whose territory is administratively governed by both the Municipalities of Tivat and Kotor. Part of Vrmac belonging to the Mun...

Vrmac hill is a peninsula that separates the Bays of Kotor and Tivat, and whose territory is administratively governed by both the Municipalities of Tivat and Kotor. Part of Vrmac belonging to the Mun...

Vrmac hill is a peninsula that separates the Bays of Kotor and Tivat, and whose territory is administratively governed by both the Municipalities of Tivat and Kotor. Part of Vrmac belonging to the Mun...

"Manual on protection, planning and management of heritage" summarises the experiences and knowledge gained during the project “Heritage – Driver of Development”. It aims at furthering the heritage is...

"A Contribution from Cultural and Creative actors to citizens' empowerment" is the publication developed as the result of ECLECTIS - European Citizens' Laboratories for Empowerment: CiTIes Shared, the...

Recently is published "Heritage for Development in South East Europe - New visions and perceptions of heritage through the Ljubljana Process". The author of the chapter regarding the cultural heritage...

Publication "Revival of City Squares in Balkan Cities - Contribution to cultural and civic participative policies for livable city squares and public spaces" was accomplished using archive material of...

“The Catalogue of Public Spaces in Boka Kotorska” contains information on 83 sites identified during the process of mapping of public spaces in Boka Kotorska. The mapping was conduced by EXPEDITIO as ...

We want to inform you that the publication “Prokletije/Bjeshkët e Nëmuna - Biodiversity and Cultural Heritage” has been released. It is produced within the project “Environment for People in the Dinar...

The research “Cultural Practices of Citizens in Boka Kotorska“ has been realized within the process of creation of draft Local Programmes for the Development of Culture in the three municipalities of ...

Establishing a proactive, responsible citizenry and fostering citizens’ participation in Europeanpolicy-making is easiest activated on local level. Policies developed and implemented on local level co...

The electronic publication „Benefit Living” was made available as a part of the same project. It is intended for those who want to be informed, understand, and implement the modern construction and sp...

Research: "Gender awareness in the field of spatial planning in Montenegro" aims to examine the extent to which planning in Montenegro is gender-sensitive and how it can improve the current planning p...

The second, supplemented edition of the publication “Palaces of Boka Kotorska” in Montenegrin language has just been released. The publication “Palaces of Boka Kotorska” presents, in one place, all th...

In the period September 2009-March 2010, Expeditio conducted a research focusing on the topic “Cultural Needs of Youth in Boka Kotorska“. The project was funded by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and ...

This publication is based on the “Conservation Study of the Built Heritage of Kostanjica” which was commissioned by the Municipality of Kotor for the purpose of amending and supplementing a detailed u...

The publication “Development of Maintenance Programs and Tools for Historic Building Preservation” has been issued by EXPEDITIO and Cultural Heritage without Borders (CHwB). The publication is the res...

The publication “Palaces of Boka Kotorska” presents, in one place, all the palaces and other important and characteristic residential houses in Boka Kotorska which can be included in an interesting cu...

At the end of June 2007 EXPEDITIO published a book by Professor Emir Fejzic, Ph. D., "Persons with Disabilities and Architectural Barriers." This is a first textbook in Montenegro about architectural ...

LFA-Logical Framework Approach, an objective-oriented planning tool. The booklet sets out the LFA methodology and approach that can assist in analyzing, planning, presenting, as well as managing, proj...

This publication was one of the results of a two-year project funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation. The publication has been produced only in a digital form. The reasons for taking this geogr...

The publication “Montenegro on the Path of European Integrations – Experience of Poland” is a result of the project “For you could be difficult, too – make the process less painful” – i.e., study tou...

"The European Urban Charter" treats the development and concept of a town in Europe, the elements of urban life (local democracy, urban policies, cooperation of towns, urban rights), as well as the pr...

The publication "European Conventions and Recommendations in the Field of Cultural Heritage" contains seven key documents of European Union concerning cultural heritage: - Convention for the Protecti...

In the field of sustainable architecture we have translated and published "Green Paper on Energy Efficiency" which treats the measures for improving energy efficiency, specific energy policy measures,...

The publication contains translations of four European documents concerned with this topic: 1. Better Buildings, published by European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy and Transport, B-1049...

"ESDP European Spatial Development Perspective – Towards Balanced and Sustainable Development of the Territory of the European Union" represents a result of the agreement of the Member States of the E...

The publication “The doors in the traditional architecture of the Boka Kotorska and their conservation” is the result of cooperation between EXPEDITIO and the Svenska byggnadsvårdsföreningen – the Swe...